Dear Friends, For those of you in the USA this is Super Bowl Sunday, an excuse I guess to have friends over and party all afternoon prior to the game, with many falling asleep during the game, bored with a game they do not understand nor even care to understand. And loyal Lions fans can spend their time admiring Tom Brady leading his team to victory again while wondering whether the city's team will ever make it to the big dance. Oh, I have been down that road too many times. From far away Africa I wonder whether I will live long enough to see that long awaited championship team......................................................................................................... These last nine days have been unique and quite chaotic for this nation and somewhat chaotic for our Jesuit community. Let me explain a little............................................................................................. On Friday the 26th, we had in the afternoon an ice storm, yes, a storm of hail, little ice-balls fall on us, really DUMPED on us with much force . . . sheets and sheets of hail stones falling on a 45 degtree angle and covering up most of the grass. It went on for 20 minutes while the skies thundered and thundered for more than an hour. Heavy, much needed rains followed about an hour later. I had never imagined anything like this in this part of the world, but happen it did. It took almost an hour for the ice balls to melt. They were about as big as the nail of your index finger. The chaos then followed. Electrical power was knocked out, the internet connection was broken. Then on Sturday Kenya Electic tried to restore power. The resumption of power led to surges or jolts of power into our lines and this burned up, destroyed many pieces related to our laptop computers. I lost my transformer, a plug-in to the back of my computer. It is worth about $25, a fourth of the money I get to live on for a month. Some witnessed flashes of fire shooting out from wall sockets in their rooms. the surge also destroyed a key piece of electrical equipment in the pump from which we get our water. So for three days we were ailing water from the tank that catches run-off water from our roofs. Thank God we still were able to purchase clean drinking water. But no whowers during this time, no water out of the taps. Then bubbles in the water lines blocking the flow of water for the first day water was restored. So I went four days without a shower. Pee-UUUUUU!!! Ugh. My hair was oily beyond description! Ugh! I felt like a stinking rat. On the third day I went for a swim, outdoors here. Low 80s during the afternoons. Having the chlorine residue on my skin was preferable than to no shower at all!.......................................................................................................Then on Tuesday the loser in the last national election, Mr. Raila Odinga, had himself "inaugurated as the people's president" over against an election he said was rigged against him. It would be like Hillary declaring from exile that she is the People's president and that Trump stole the election from her--which some will say is exactly what happened. The government in power allowed the rally and inauguration to go forward, I think as a way to assuage the anger of many who voted for the opponent. A large crowd turned out. All went fairly quietly that day, last Tuesday, but someone in the government shut down the TV stations that were carrying the ceremony. I was sitting at my computer at that moment and all of a sudden all power went off. We all right away said the government did this, in dictatorial fashion. And sure enough, that is the explanation. Then in the last few days the government has been rounding up the member of that party who led this sediitous ceremony, imprisoned some and have revoked the passports of them all. Where Odinga is right now is not known. Rumors have him hiding in Tanzania, the nation to our south. Three of the TV stations are still not back on the air and are said to have to re-apply for their licensces to be permitted to resume broadcasting........................................................................................... Many say this has the feel of a dictatorship, that the elements of democracy are suffering because of the way the government is handling this turmoil. At the same time, what Odinga and his group did is an act of sedition, a crime against the state. Odinga is so frustrated in trying to get reforms, constitutional and economic, in this nation. And he has a point to some degree, but his methods have boomeranged on him this time, it seems. The interenational community urged him strong not to do this, that it would not support him as a preisdent outside the country nor as a people's president inside Kenya. ........................................................................................................ I wish I had the time to study in depth who and what are the power clusters in the government and millionaires in the business community that block real reform and the opening up of the job markets and the vast parts of land in this nation so desperately needed. Islamic jihadist efforts are closely tied to young men frustrated that they cannot get a job, so they are easily recruited with wads of money provided by sources in Saudia Arabia and Qatar to join Al Shabab in Somalia and conduct raids in Somalia and Kenya. American military with drones are stationed clandestinely in Somalia and Tanzania kill many of these young men. It is so tragic for these people who are trapped in what feels like a hopeless situation. The poverty in this part of the world is so striking, over against the relatively small number who have enormous wealth and are the real power behind government decisions. Not a lot different than in most first world nations, the USA included. ............................................................................................................ Yesterday I had a young nun tell me the very sad story of how her family and all in her village in western Kenya were burned out of their homes last Friday in a raid by neighboring tribal people, people who worship in the same church they do and buy food at the same market they do. Almost always this is about one tribal group getting angry over the alleged stealing of their cattle and goats by the other tribe. You have to image the setting: a rolling highlands area, rich in green growth from generous rainfall, full of herds of cattle and goats. The people live in wooden or mudbrick shacks with tarp paper to protect against rain. They usually form a circle of the houses for protection and have a large open space on the inside of the circle for their children to play, for meetings with their elders, and where at night they bring their animals for safety. This nun teaches in a school far away from her family, in eastern Kenya, and received a phone call that the huts of all of her family members were burned down, all possessions were lost, and some were wounded with bullets from Russian AK-47s provided by government leaders who make good money from selling war weapons. Sounds like the USA!! The only things left were the clothes on the backs of her family members. She is struggling so hard with the feelings of anger and hurt and the call of the Gospel to forgiveness and reconciliation. Life is terribly brutal at times........................................................................................ Then I have learned from one of my retreatants who is a nun some shocking info regarding her efforts to rescue children kidnapped by and for the local sex industry, one of the most evil, monstrous industries in the world. Surely there is a hell for these perpetrators!! She tells of a 12 minute video shown to some of her fellow workers dedicated to the rescue of these children in which a little 5 year old Philippina girl was kidnapped and would be drugged with a pill shoved in her mouth so that she would not be all that conscious when sordid customers came to satisfy their animal cravings at her expense. Again life can be very brutal. It is truly one of the worst manifestations of today's ongoing crucifixion of Christ in His Body, God's family. It and the world of pornography are the second biggest source of money in today's world, following what the arms merchants make. It is the cravings for money and a lavish lifestyle that pushes many of these people to do such criminal things. God will not be mocked. There will be a day when justice is done, as sure as the sun will come up tomorrow. What are these poeple going to do when they meet their Creator and asks them what did they do with the life He gave them??!! I know for a fact that this human trafficking, of adults and of children, goes on everywhere; in Detroit, in Flint, in Toledo. It cries to heaven for justice. Pope Francis has spoken out on it a number of times. I pray daily for its victims. Many commit suicide; many end up in prostitution or other crimes. Yes, the world needs a Savior........................................................................................................For me I continue to plow along on the second book I am writing. I have gotten the OK to have my first book published and marketed here in Africa. Very encouraging news! The book is translated now into Spanish and I am presently looking for a publishing company to make it available to the Spanish-speaking public. Mexico, USA?? Weather here is usually wonderful: cloudless skies, low 80s during the fternoons, great for an outdoors swim. I wish all who read this a spiritually rich Lent.......................................................................................... I will have two visitors coming on the 27th of this month and staying until March 8--one a very good male friend from Troy, MI and the other a male friend from Rome. I expect to have a fabulous time with them. They are both close friends of mine and know each other quite well. We will see some of the beauty in the surrounding area and sip some scotch or sambucca while my Roman friend plays the guitar; He has been good enough to play in restaurants in Rome, so this will be a treat. God bless to you all....................................................................................................... Bernie Owens